Belo Horizonte keeps its public transportation simple: one company’s buses cover the city, a single metro line cuts through the middle of it, and one rechargeable card works on both. There’s no fare-capping system and no multi-day pass, but the city’s buses are free outright on Sundays and holidays — a detail that catches a lot of visitors off guard.
The basics
Sumob, the city’s mobility superintendency, sets routes and fares for Belo Horizonte’s buses, including the Move bus rapid transit corridors that run in dedicated lanes along the main avenues. The buses themselves come in a few flavors — conventional lines, Move BRT trunk lines, feeder lines that connect neighborhoods to the trunk network, and circular lines — but they all work the same way for a rider.
Metrô BH, a private concessionaire, runs the city’s single metro line, Line 1, an east–west line with 21 stations running between Eldorado and Vilarinho. A second line is under construction and not yet open.
How to pay
- Get a BHBUS card. Buy one at an integration station, bus terminal, or accredited Transfácil point, and load it with cash, a card, Pix, or a boleto. Tap it to board any bus, and tap it again at the metro turnstile — it works on both.
- Use the BHBus+ app. It lets you reload your card’s balance by Pix or card, or generate a QR code on your phone to board without a physical card.
- Pay cash on the bus, if you’d rather skip the card — city law keeps cash boarding as an option even as the card system expands.
- At the metro, you can skip the card entirely: tap a contactless credit or debit card or a phone/smartwatch wallet right at the gate, buy a single-ride QR ticket through the Bipay app, or pay cash at a station ticket office.
A BHBUS card tap gets you a 90-minute window to transfer to another bus or the metro, often for a reduced “complement” fare rather than a full second fare — the exact discount depends on which type of line you’re transferring between.
Fares
| Fare | |
|---|---|
| Bus — conventional, Move BRT, or structural lines | R$6.25 |
| Bus — feeder or circular lines | R$6.00 |
| Metro | R$6.00 |
| Bus → metro integration | R$9.35–R$10.60, depending on line type |
| Sundays & holidays (267 bus lines) | Free |
| 13 Vilas e Favelas lines + 4 feeder lines (202, 204, 401, 402) | Always free |
| Age 65+, riders with disabilities | Free |
The Sunday and holiday freebie is run under the city’s Catraca Livre program: tap your BHBUS card (it just registers you, without charging anything) or, if you don’t have one, the driver or station staff will let you through. There’s no bus-to-metro integration on those free days — the metro still charges its normal fare.
Getting from the airport
Most flights land at Confins International Airport (CNF), about 40 km (an hour or more by road) north of downtown — there’s no metro or city bus connection that far out. Conexão Aeroporto, run by Expresso Unir, is the official airport bus service, dropping passengers downtown on Av. Álvares Cabral in the Região Centro-Sul. Check the current fare and next departure at the airport counter or on the operator’s site. A taxi or rideshare is the other common option.
Apps to download
- BHBus+ — the official app for the BHBUS card: reload it, generate a QR code to board, and check real-time bus arrivals.
- Bipay — the official metro app for buying a single-ride QR ticket and tracking train locations and arrivals.
- Google Maps — solid for general trip planning with decent live transit data.
When it runs
The metro runs daily from 5:15am to 11pm, every 7.5 minutes during weekday and Saturday peak hours (6–8am and 4:30–6:30pm) and every 15 minutes otherwise — including all day on Sundays and holidays.
Buses run a daytime network of around 300 lines. Overnight, the Madrugão program keeps 128 lines running between midnight and 3:59am, plus the dedicated Line 10 – Circular Noturno, which loops past the city’s main nightlife areas — Savassi, Lourdes, Praça da Liberdade — and Move stations every 25 minutes from 11:20pm to 4am.
Accessibility
Metrô BH provides on-request staff assistance for riders with physical or visual disabilities — ask at the ticket barrier when you enter a station. Priority seating on trains and buses is reserved by municipal law for elderly riders, pregnant and breastfeeding people, people with disabilities or reduced mobility, and anyone traveling with a child under two.
Etiquette & local quirks
- Don’t assume a free ride on a Sunday or holiday extends to the metro — only buses are covered by Catraca Livre.
- Buses can get genuinely packed around weekday rush hour; hold onto bags and valuables.
- The BHBUS card is the one thing to carry even as a short-term visitor — it works identically on buses and the metro, so there’s no need to juggle two systems.
Good to know
- Bus fares last changed on January 1, 2026; check Sumob’s fares page if you’re reading this well afterward, since Belo Horizonte adjusts fares annually.
- The metro fare last changed on July 1, 2026, tied to the concession contract’s annual inflation adjustment.
- Riders 65 and older and people with disabilities or autism spectrum disorder ride free system-wide, year-round, not just on the Catraca Livre days — ask about the Cartão BHBUS Master or Benefício Inclusão if that applies to you.